Cambridge International Examinations

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

* 2 7 6 3 2 3 0 9 7 0 *

PHYSICS 0625/53
Paper 5 Practical Test October/November 2017
1 hour 15 minutes
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
Additional Materials: As listed in the Confidential Instructions

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your Centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces at the top of the page.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams or graphs.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.

Answer all questions.

You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on each of questions 1 to 3, and about 15 minutes on question 4.
Electronic calculators may be used.
You may lose marks if you do not show your working or if you do not use appropriate units.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

For Examiner’s Use

Total

The syllabus is approved for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate.

This document consists of 11 printed pages and 1 blank page.

DC (ST/AR) 132966/7
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1 In this experiment, you will investigate how the use of a lid affects the rate of cooling of water in a
beaker.

Carry out the following instructions, referring to Fig. 1.1.

thermometer

beakers lid

A B

Fig. 1.1

(a) • Pour 100 cm3 of hot water into beaker A.

• Place the thermometer in the water in beaker A.
• In Table 1.1, record the temperature θ of the water at time t = 0 s and immediately start
the stopclock.
• Record, in the table, the temperature θ of the water at times t = 30 s, 60 s, 90 s, 120 s,
150 s and 180 s.
• Remove the thermometer from the beaker. [1]

(b) (i) Remove the lid from beaker B.

Repeat the procedure in (a) for beaker B, using 75 cm3 of hot water, and replace the lid
immediately after pouring in the water. [1]

(ii) Complete the headings and the time column in Table 1.1. [2]

Table 1.1

beaker A beaker B
without a lid with a lid
t/ θ/ θ/
0

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(c) Describe two precautions that you took to ensure that the temperature readings were as
accurate as possible in the experiment.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

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2 ................................................................................................................................................

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[2]

(d) (i) Write a conclusion, stating how the use of the lid affects the rate of cooling of the water.
Justify your answer by reference to your results.

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(ii) Suggest one change to the apparatus or procedure to make the comparison a fairer test.
Explain why the change makes the test fairer.

change ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

explanation ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

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[2]

(iii) The temperature of the water in each beaker decreases.

Describe one other similarity in the pattern of cooling in beakers A and B.

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.......................................................................................................................................[1]

[Total: 11]

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2 In this experiment, you will investigate a circuit containing resistors.

The circuit has been set up for you.

Carry out the following instructions, referring to Fig. 2.1.

power supply

X Y

Fig. 2.1

(a) On Fig. 2.1, draw a voltmeter connected so that it measures the potential difference across
resistor X. [1]

(b) (i) Switch on. Record the value of the current IS in the circuit.

IS = ...........................................................[1]

(ii) • Use the voltmeter to measure and record the value of the potential difference VX
across resistor X.

VX = ...............................................................

Disconnect the voltmeter.

• Reconnect the voltmeter to measure and record the potential difference VY across
resistor Y.

VY = ...............................................................
[1]

Disconnect the voltmeter.

(iii) Reconnect the voltmeter to measure and record the potential difference VS across the
combination of both resistors.

VS = ...........................................................[1]

Switch off.

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(iv) A student suggests that VS should be equal to (VX + VY).

State whether your readings support this suggestion. Justify your statement with
reference to your results.

statement ..........................................................................................................................

justification ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Calculate the resistance RS of the combination of resistors, using your readings from (b)(i)
and (b)(iii) and the equation
V
RS = S .
IS

RS = ...........................................................[2]

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(d) The circuit components are to be rearranged so that:

• resistors X and Y are in parallel

• the ammeter will measure the total current in the circuit
• the voltmeter will measure the potential difference across both resistors.

In the space below, draw a diagram of this circuit using standard electrical symbols.

[2]

(e) Set up the circuit as described in (d).

Switch on. Measure and record the total current IP in the circuit and the potential difference
VP across the resistors.

IP = ...............................................................

VP = ...............................................................
[1]

Switch off.

[Total: 11]

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BLANK PAGE

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3 In this experiment, you will determine the weight of a metre rule.

Carry out the following instructions, referring to Fig. 3.1.

clamp

forcemeter

metre rule
clamp
0.0 cm mark 100.0 cm mark

d
100 g mass bench

Fig. 3.1

(a) (i) • Move the 100 g mass to a distance d = 10.0 cm from the 0.0 cm end of the rule.
• Adjust the height of the clamp holding the forcemeter so that the rule is horizontal.
• Read, and record in Table 3.1, the forcemeter reading F.
• Repeat this procedure for values of d = 30.0 cm, 50.0 cm, 70.0 cm and 90.0 cm.

Table 3.1

d / cm F/N
10.0
30.0
50.0
70.0
90.0
[2]

(ii) Explain how you made sure that the rule was horizontal before each reading.
You may draw a diagram.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

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(b) Plot a graph of F / N (y-axis) against d / cm (x-axis).

Start your axes from the origin (0,0).

Draw a best-fit line.

[4]

(c) (i) From your graph, determine F0, the value of F when d = 0.0 cm.

F0 ...............................................................

(ii) Calculate the weight WR of the metre rule, using the equation WR = 2 × F0.
Give WR to a suitable number of significant figures for this experiment.

WR = ...............................................................
[2]

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(d) A student correctly plots your data points on another sheet of graph paper.

State and explain whether his best-fit line is likely to be the same as yours.
Justify your answer with reference to the plots.

statement ..................................................................................................................................

explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................[1]

(e) Another student, carrying out the same experiment, is not sure if some of his values of F are
correct.

Suggest one improvement to the procedure which would help him to obtain more reliable F
values.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................[1]

[Total: 11]

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4 A student has a box of converging lenses, but does not know their focal lengths.

Plan an experiment that will enable her to determine an accurate value for the focal length f of one
of the lenses, using the equation
uv
f=
(u + v )
where u is the distance between an object and the lens and v is the distance between the lens and
the focused image of the object.

The apparatus available includes:

a lens holder
a 12 V lamp in a holder, with a power supply
a card with a triangular hole covered with tracing paper.

Write a plan for the experiment.

You should:

• list any additional apparatus needed

• draw a diagram of how the apparatus would be arranged, clearly labelling u and v

• write a method for carrying out the experiment including how f would be determined

• state the precautions which should be taken to obtain a clear, focused image

• state the precautions which should be taken to ensure that measurements are accurate
once a focused image has been obtained.

You are not required to carry out the experiment.

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[Total: 7]

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reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

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the live examination series.

Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2017 0625/53/O/N/17